Italia 2006

So I havent written in about a month...sorry, but what can I do when Im having the time of my life every weekend and trying to focus on school during the week...life isnt easy haha. Well, I left off with my return from the Amalfi coast, what an adventure. The following weekend was much less stressful and probably one the best weekends I have had abroad. September 28,2006. I set off on my journey to Munich, Germany, for Oktoberfest. I had no idea what to expect. Having heard a lot of crazy stories about this festival from my other friends who went on the previous weekends I knew that I would be seeing some drunk people and be eating alot of Bratts and Sourkrout (spelling?) but I never expected this. I arrived at the futuristic airport, probably the cleanest airport I had ever seen. From there I met up with my friend and we left to our hotel. We were both so anxious to see what this festival was all about, so we dropped off our stuff and headed straight to oktoberfest.

Arrving at the festival, I was in absolute awe with what I found: rollercoasters, food stands (amazing food, may I add), theme park games, and of course the dozen gigantic tents full of singing people clanging their pints of beer together. The tents were so packed that you had to wait at least an hour just to get into one. Well, being me, I didnt feel like waiting. I walked behind the building and stood at a door that no1 was by. At that time the door opened and the man looked at me and said "sei italiana?" (are you italian?) and in a bit of shock I responded "Si!" He looked at me again and then said "vieni" (come in) and with that I was in the tent. Talk about being the right race at the right time. The tent was absolutely incredible. There were people all dressed up in their old german outfits singing german songs and some random American songs. It was such a blast. The night ended pretty late and my friend and I strolled home, avoiding walking in barf and laughing at the people who had passed out in the street. I was actually surprised to find more italians there than Germans. We headed straight for bed knowing that the next morning was going to be an early one.

In order to get into the good tent without waiting you had to be at the tent by at least 8 am. We woke up at 730 and headed straight to the tents bright and early. I wasnt even able to get breakfast or anything so you can be sure that I wasnt the happiest camper there. I had to wait on the drinking but still had a blast watching the fun and excitment that surrounded me. People singing their nations songs, the sounds of the pints clanging together, the smell of the bratts and roasted chicken, and of course the surprisingly good taste of the beer. In the tent I met up with a bunch of friends from school and for most of the day we stayed in the tent singing and going along with the oktoberfest fun. For the rest of the day we took it easy and went on the rollercoasters and tried all the delicious foods oktoberfest had to offer, such as a chocolate covered strawberry kabob, AMAZING!!! Overall I couldnt have asked for a better trip. I was surrouned by people I love and experiencing a life sooo unknown to me. Germany was so unlike anywhere Ive ever been before, and let me tell you...they sure know how to drink.